More of a personal story, but over the years I’ve gone from poor, to lower middle-class, to upper middle-class, and I’ve gotta admit, the worst period was lower middle. When I was poor, I had health insurance, cheaper apartments, and guaranteed access to food. When I moved up one rung on the ladder, I lost those benefits. I couldn’t go to the doctor whenever I needed it, it was too expensive. Rent took up a far larger portion of my paycheck. My food went from generally healthy adjacent, to ramen, rice, and beans. The amount taken out of my paycheck went up too, so at the end of the day I made a few dollars more, but had far more expenses.